The Lamplighters League is the next turn-based strategy game from the team behind Battletech and Shadowrun, but it’s also the name of the ragtag group of scoundrels you’ll be fighting with across this pulp adventure. Katharine got to see three of those characters in action during her preview – where she walked away very excited about the game’s emergent chaos – and now developer Harebrained Schemes have revealed all ten playable agents. Oh boy, do they look stylish.
A Mega Man-like from the folk behind Pokémon.
If the news of an Indie World Direct, the reveal of more Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC and two new amiibo, wasn’t enough for you, Nintendo has also added four new games to the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive library on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack — all within the last 24 hours.
While the likes of Street Fighter II’: Special Champion Edition and Kid Chameleon are more than enough to get excited about, it is the addition of Pulseman that has really got our Nintendo senses tingling. This is because the title comes from none other than Game Freak, working in its pre-Pokémon Red and Blue days.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card has launched to warm reviews thanks to its performance, power efficiency and DLSS 3 – including here at RPS – but its £599 price point has been decried as a bit over the top.
Enter Novatech, who are offering a Palit RTX 4070 for just £550, a £50 reduction from RRP and the best deal we’ve seen on the 4070 thus far. Add on £6 for next-day shipping and you’ve got a high-end card for a cool £44 off!
Xbox has officially confirmed its second wave of new Xbox Game Pass games for April 2023, and there’s plenty more to jump into this month, and early May as well. Bethesda and Arkane Studios’ Redfall is a clear standout from the latest blog post, although don’t get too excited as it’s still hitting Game Pass in May. But, it’s still not far too off the April release window for Game Pass users, releasing on May 2 for PC, Xbox Series X|S and Cloud.
Other games announced for late April include The Last Case of Benedict Fox on April 27, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle also on April 27, Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly on April 20, Homestead Arcana on April 21, Medieval Dynasty on April 20, and Cassette Beasts on April 26 for PC,
Games that have already hit Game Pass this month include Ghostwire Tokyo, which made its debut on Xbox Series X|S on April 12th. There were also the likes of Loop Hero on April 4, NHL 23 on April 13 and Minecraft Legends on April 18. You can see the full list of games that are on Xbox Game Pass in April, just below.
This is everything so far confirmed to be hitting Xbox Game Pass this month. Stay tuned for more updates on the second wave of games in the last couple of weeks in April.
If you’re a PC user and don’t have Game Pass, or even want to stack your membership up a few months, you can currently save $6 on 3-months of PC Game Pass with this link at Amazon.
A major free update for Ghostwire Tokyo came alongside the new release. It’s called the Spider’s Thread update, and Tango Gameworks has also promised it will come with a variety of quality-of-life improvements to make players’ journeys through the haunted version of Tokyo a little smoother. This update released on the same day for all users (on PS5, Xbox, and PC) and adds a new game mode, extended story cutscenes, new areas, and more.
The following games will be leaving Xbox Game Pass by April 30, so get ready to say goodbye, or consider making them a permanent addition to your library.
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
“Join a cast of new and familiar characters”.
Alongside the amiibo announcement, Nintendo has confirmed “the final DLC” in the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass will arrive next week on 25th April.
The trailer above provides fans with a glimpse of what’s to come in ‘Future Redeemed’ and also shows off a cast of “new and familiar characters” – including Shulk. According to the PR, this DLC will include an “original story scenario” connecting all three installments of the Xenoblade Chronicles series together.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
“Stay tuned for more details”.
Last year, Nintendo announced it would be releasing Pyra and Mythra Super Smash Bros. Ultimate amiibo, and now it’s locked in a date – confirming they’ll be arriving in a 2-pack on 21st July.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Final Fantasy XII was a marvel when it was originally released on the PS2 in 2006. However, it also had an infamously challenging development cycle for its key developers, including game director Yasumi Matsuno.
Though the true extent of how challenging development was on the game is not publically known, one prevailing rumor about Final Fantasy XII’s early production that stuck with fans was that protagonist Vaan wasn’t the initially planned hero of FFXII.
On Twitter, the game director took time to respond to a fan’s comment about Bacsh fon Ronsenburg — a disgraced knight and eventual party member in FFXII — being the original protagonist of the game. This comment came from a thread about Clive, the hero of Final Fantasy XVI, who is set to become the oldest main character in an FF game.
In the plainest terms, Matsuno denied that Basch was the original hero of Final Fantasy XII in the early production, writing, “That rumor is a fake story. Thank you.”
That rumor is a fake story.
Thank you.— 松野泰己 (@YasumiMatsuno) April 18, 2023
According to the long-standing rumor, the original pitch for Final Fantasy XII was a dark fantasy story more in the vein of Vagrant Story or Final Fantasy Tactics on the PS1, which Matsuno also directed.
The rumor that made the rounds for nearly 20 years suggested that Final Fantasy XII’s original vision changed to be more approachable for all players, with Vaan, an energetic street rat who bore a striking resemblance to Tidus, being introduced as the core protagonist.
What made this particular rumor about the game stick with fans over the years was that Vaan was not well-received upon release. While the more extensive cast of characters was very popular, including Balthier, Fran, Basch, and Ashe, Vaan’s place in the core story seemed more set as a perspective character rather than someone with a major role in the larger plot.
That said, Vaan eventually came into his own throughout the game, and he even starred in an FFXII spin-off game on the Nintendo DS called Final Fatansy XII: Revenant Wings. Fans have also taken more of a liking to him over the years, thanks to memes about the quest where Vaan had to shout in the streets, “I’m Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg of Dalmasca!” or “Don’t listen to Ondore’s lies.”
Don’t listen to Ondore’s lies!
I’m Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg of Dalmasca! pic.twitter.com/gYDXso2J8S— Victor Hunter (@victorehunter) April 9, 2022
In IGN’s original review for FFXII, former editor Jeremy Dunham gave the game a 9.5, and stated “Final Fantasy XII is a fantastic RPG. It blows all of its PS2 competition this year right out of the water and is among the all time elite role-players ever made for the system.”
In the years since its release, publisher Square-Enix have re-released FFXII as Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, which updated the visuals, introduced revised combat and character growth mechanics, and added new encounters that were only in the Japan only enhanced edition of the game from the PS2. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is currently out on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and the Nintendo Switch.
Alessandro Fillari is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @afillari.
Super karting, quite artistic, FPS atrocious.
It’s hard to review a game when it has something that doesn’t bother some players but is considered a dealbreaker for others. Disney Speedstorm is a particularly tricky course to navigate, then, because it has two of them.
Let’s get this out of the way first, then, so as to not waste some people’s time. If you’re the sort of person who won’t accept a karting game if it doesn’t run at 60fps, you should probably move on at this point, because you will not be happy with what you find here.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Sports gamers took to the polls in April for IGN’s Ultimate Sports Video Games Showdown Contest (presented by the U.S. Army) and after 624,620 votes, Mario Kart 8 has been crowned as the #1 sports game title from a competitive field of 32! When Nintendo’s powerhouse racer was released in 2014, it was lauded for its twisting U-turns, blistering sense of speed, and thrilling antigravity transformations — not to mention its robust tournament and online features. A total package that led to Mario Kart 8 not just winning our tournament, but lapping the competition.
In Round 1, Mario Kart 8 was up against the Wii’s innovative, launch-day phenom, Wii Sports, which lured casual gamers with its wand-waving tennis, bowling, golf and more. Mario Kart won by 68% of the vote to advance to the next round.
In the Sweet 16, Mario Kart 8 faced off against Rocket League, the wonderfully absurd, hyper-powered, cars meet-soccer competition. And while over five billion Rocket League matches have been played online, Mario Kart 8 made a statement by getting 77% of the vote (at the time, the highest margin of victory of any of the matchups).
In the Elite 8, Mark Kart 8 took on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, Neversoft’s wildly addictive skateboarder that topped the original by allowing users to create their own skater (not to mention the skate-park creator). But Tony Hawk was no match for Mario Kart 8, which cruised into the Final 4 with a no-doubt victory, winning 73% of the vote.
In the Final 4, it was racer-vs.-racer as Mario Kart 8 took on Forza Horizon 5, an adrenaline junky’s dream set in Mexico and wowed gamers by opening with cars being dropped out of an airplane!!! But it was no match for Nintendo’s juggernaut as Mario Kart drove away the winner, earning 65% of the vote.
In the Championship, it was Mario-against-Mario, as Mario Kart 8 took on Mario Golf World Tour, an accessible, joy-making golfer that sent players to the links with loads of power-ups to get you close to the pin. But in the end, Mario Kart dismantled its brethren, winning it all by a stunning 94.9% of the fan vote, making them not only a decisive winner, but clearly the best sports video game of all-yime.
Congratulations to Mario Kart 8, which amassed 79,159 votes across the competition, and 16,216 votes in the final round to decide the champion.
And further congratulations go out to the winner of our Bracket Building Contest! They’ll take home a prize package valued at over $2,000, which includes an Xbox Series X, a PS5, 32 sports genre game titles and a one-of-a-kind IGN champion’s jersey!
Finally, congrats to the contest’s 10 runners-up, who will each receive a $100 gift card to the digital video game store of their choice.
Desktop Dungeons: Rewind is out now. If you owned the original ten years ago, then you already own this remaster of the wonderfully sticky puzzle roguelike. If not, you’ll find it on Steam for £14.23/$17.
